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Contingency Plan for the Bronze Birch Borer (Agrilus Anxius)

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Contingency Plan for the Bronze Birch Borer (Agrilus Anxius) Contingency Plan for the Bronze Birch Borer (Agrilus anxius) Bronze Birch Borer: Contingency plan INTRODUCTION 1. Serious or significant pests require strategic-level plans, developed at a national level, describing the overall aim and high-level objectives to be achieved and the response strategy for either eradicating or containing an outbreak. 2. Following identification by the National Plant Health Risk Register, the Plant Health Risk Group (PHRG) has commissioned pest-specific contingency plans for those pests that pose the greatest risk and require stakeholder consultation. The Forestry Commission is also prioritising plans which require updating, including the plan for the Bronze Birch Borer. 3. The purpose of pest-specific contingency plans is to ensure a rapid and effective response to an outbreak of the pest or disease described. 4. Contingency planning starts with the anticipation and assessment of potential threats, includes preparation and response, and finishes with recovery. Anticipation 5. Researching sources of information and intelligence about the pest, including horizon scanning. Assessment 6. Identifying concerns and the preparation of plans. 7. Setting outbreak objectives. Preparation 8. Ensuring staff and stakeholders are familiar with the pest. Response 9. Implementing the requirements to either contain or eradicate, including work to determine success. Recovery 10. Identifying when the response strategy has been effective, or when the response is not considered feasible, cost effective or beneficial. 2 | Bronze Birch Borer Contingency Plan | Liz Poulsom | 20/01/2016 Bronze Birch Borer: Contingency plan 11. The Defra Contingency Plan for Plant Health in England (in draft 2015) gives details of the teams and organisations involved in pest response in England, and of their responsibilities and governance. It also describes how these teams and organisations will work together in the event of an outbreak of a plant health pest. The purpose of Pest-Specific Contingency Plans is to ensure a rapid and effective response to an outbreak of the pest or disease described. Scope This contingency plan was prepared by the Forestry Commission’s cross-border Plant Health Service for use at country and national (GB) levels. It should be used in conjunction with the Specific-Incident Contingency Plan for Plant Health Pest and Disease Outbreaks developed by Forestry Commission England’s Forest Services division, which provides details of the level of response required and by whom, depending on the scenario. Forestry Commission Scotland and the Welsh Government will develop similar documents detailing their management of outbreaks. Where an outbreak becomes of national (GB) concern, the Chief Plant Health Officer will form an outbreak management team to co- ordinate the activities in the different countries. This contingency plan falls into three main parts: official action following a presumptive diagnosis; official action following the confirmation of an outbreak; and pest background information. It is designed to help government agencies anticipate, assess, prepare, prevent, respond and recover from pest outbreaks. This plan will be updated following new information or changes in policy or contact details (last updated August 2015). Objectives of this plan To raise awareness of the potential threat posed by A. anxius, thereby ensuring that stakeholders are aware of the symptoms caused by infestation by this pest. To provide guidance on the steps to be taken whenever symptoms of attack by A. anxius are observed. To ensure that infestations of A. anxius are managed promptly with the aim of eradicating pioneer populations of the borer. 3 | Bronze Birch Borer Contingency Plan | Liz Poulsom | 20/01/2016 Bronze Birch Borer: Contingency plan To ensure that all relevant Forestry Commission staff, other government agencies and local authorities are conversant with the contents of this Contingency Plan so that effective and immediate action is implemented as required. To ensure that good communications are put in place at regional and national levels so that all stakeholders (including the media) are kept fully informed of the scale of infestation. Anticipation and Assessment 1.1. Agrilus anxius (Linnaeus) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), commonly known as the Bronze Birch Borer, is a specialist wood borer of Betula (birch) species. 1.2. Its native range covers North America, where it occupies a wide range of ecological and climatic conditions. 1.3. It is mainly a secondary pest, attacking trees weakened by drought, old age, defoliation or soil compaction, although it has been known to attack healthy trees. 1.4. It is a quarantine pest for the EU (2014/78/EU), and is on the EPPO A1 list of quarantine pests with potential to cause extensive damage if introduced. 1.5. It is officially absent from the UK. Preparation 2.1. Following suggestions from the NPPO of Norway, where Betula spp. comprise up to 30% of the woodland cover, a PRA for A. anxius has been conducted by EPPO and the pest was added to EPPO A1 list and added to Annex 1 of EU Plant Health Directive. 2.2. EPPO is (2015) preparing a quarantine pest data sheet for the organism. 2.3. The UK Government has contributed to the EPPO PRA on the species. 2.4. Importation of birch wood from North America has been controlled since October 2014. 4 | Bronze Birch Borer Contingency Plan | Liz Poulsom | 20/01/2016 Bronze Birch Borer: Contingency plan Response Legislation 3.1. A list of the relevant legislation which may influence a response is listed in appendix 3. OFFICIAL ACTION FOLLOWING A PRESUMPTIVE DIAGNOSIS Trigger 3.2. The key indicators which would trigger a response are findings of or reports of: the presence of an infested tree in a nursery; the presence of an infested tree in the wider environment; or the presence of the pest in a consignment of imported plants. This can reported in from nursery growers, woodland owners or members of the public. Communication 3.3. In England, a duty officer (from FC England or the Animal & Plant Health Agency (APHA)) will act as a point of contact for incidents, and it is their job to assign a response officer to incidents when they occur. Similar arrangements are expected to be in place in Scotland and Wales. The response officer investigates and reports back to the Defra contingency core group, which is an ‘ad hoc’ group put together in response to a notification, and which is usually chaired by the Chief Plant Health Officer. Country teams in Scotland and Wales will fully manage the outbreak in accordance with their own generic contingency plans, but will provide updates to the Defra contingency core group for information purposes and for Defra to report to the European Commission (EC). 3.4. The response officer will gather information including the location, likely origin, host or commodity, level of damage, extent of outbreak, and risk of spread. The composition of the contingency core group will depend upon the pest or disease in question, and will comprise plant health officials and specialists from the risk group. 3.5. Based on the information fed back to it, the contingency core group in England will decide upon the alert status to be given (black, amber or red) to the outbreak, which will determine the level of response (see Appendix 1 for alert status table). In Scotland and Wales, the core contingency group can advise on alert status and the appropriate response. If required, the Contingency Core Group will request the relevant organisation/s to set up an incident management team to resolve the incident. Holding consignments and movement / planting restrictions 5 | Bronze Birch Borer Contingency Plan | Liz Poulsom | 20/01/2016 Bronze Birch Borer: Contingency plan 3.6. Until further investigation, no material shall leave the site, and local operations will be halted until such time as the suspected case is confirmed as a false alarm. Preliminary trace forward / trace backward 3.7. The most likely source of entry is the importation of wood or live trees from Canada or the USA. Depending upon the entry pathway, tracing forward and backward to identify suspect material will be conducted to identify other potentially contaminated stock or sites. Surveying to determine whether there is an outbreak 3.8. An outbreak of A. anxius is most likely to be detected through general surveillance or a report from the public of birch trees showing canopy thinning, dieback or mortality, with suspect insect galleries and damage beneath the bark. Sightings might also be reported from nursery owners and/or garden centre managers. Confirmation that A. anxius is present will require examination of samples and follow-up inspections. 3.9. Follow-up inspections should gather information on: the likely origin of the pest and, if a consignment of plant and plant product is suspected to be the origin of the outbreak, details such as other destinations; the location and ownership of the affected site, including any abiotic factors that m influence the outbreak, e.g. public access, presence of watercourses, etc. Include maps if possible; the hosts infested at the site (species, variety, development stage, etc.); when and how the pest was detected and identified (including photographs of symptoms); the level of pest incidence and, where appropriate, life stages present; the extent and impact of damage (including part of host affected); any recent import or movement of host plants or host plant products into and out of the affected site; any movement of people, products, equipment and vehicles, where appropriate; the relevant treatments applied to host plants that might affect development of symptoms or detection and diagnosis of the pest; any history of the pest on the site, place of production or in the area; and likely biodiversity impacts of any control, including any duty of care obligations under NERC (2006) Act. 6 | Bronze Birch Borer Contingency Plan | Liz Poulsom | 20/01/2016 Bronze Birch Borer: Contingency plan Confirmation of a new outbreak 3.10.
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